Big Girls Don't Cry
by fangirlofepicproportions
Summary: After deciding that her connections to the Shadows are putting the ones she loves most in danger, Artemis leaves. My first fic. R&R!
1. Leaving

**Okay, so this is my first fic and I'm still contemplating whether this should be multi chapter or a one-shot. Sooo, yeah, enjoy the story!**

**Artemis: Aren't you forgetting something?**

**Me: No, I'm not….oh,well. You can say it.**

**Artemis: She doesn't own squat. **

Artemis sighed for the umpteenth time that night. She couldn't do this anymore. Hiding behind him had done nothing but endanger both of them. She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and looked over at the peacefully sleeping speedster. Artemis really didn't want to leave. But she'd stayed too long and caused too much trouble. The Shadows knew that she had been straying at first, but when she interfered with The Fog and Dr. Roquette, it was the last straw. So, things started happening. Things that, ultimately, put her friends in more danger than they could even comprehend. The team thought that the Shadows were just being extremely active, but Artemis knew better. The Shadows wanted her back, and there was nothing she or the League could do to stop it.

She softly pressed her lips to Wally's. He didn't even move. 'For once, his ability to sleep through anything comes in handy.' Artemis knew if he had awoken, he would have tried to stop her. Taking a small piece of paper out of her pocket, she unfolded it and laid it down on the pillow adjacent to his. It was time that he, well, all of them knew her secrets. Artemis slipped out of their room and creeped down the hall. No one was awake at the cave. Or so she thought.

"Where ya going, Arty?" a familiar voice asked. She froze, but then relaxed upon recognition.

'Oh, haha, bats being nocturnal.' she thought. "It's Artemis. You of all people should know that, Dick. And it's none of your business."

The Boy Wonder's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. "How'd you find out?" He said through clenched teeth. Batman had told him to protect his identity at all costs and somehow GA's niece had found out? He was definitely not feeling the aster.

"Found out? More like figured out. There's only one short, black haired kid I know who's dumb enough to take a picture of me off guard AND has enough ninja skills to get away with it." She started walking toward the Zeta tubes. "Oh, and tell Bruce I said thanks for the scholarship."

'Artemis, B-07' rang through the cave for the last time.

Wally groggily rolled over, expecting a blonde archer, not a sheet of paper. He immediately sat up, snatching the paper off of the pillow. His green eyes steadily grew wider as he read. Wally threw on some clothes and sped down the hall to the kitchen. "Good morning, Wally!" Megan's called from the stove.

"Guys, Artemis is gone."

"What do you mean she's gone?" Megan asked.

"I mean she took off and left this letter?" he held up the paper in his hand.

Kaldur inquired, "What does the letter say? I do not believe Artemis would have left without good cause."

"She said she's sorry…for lying to us"

"Lying about what?" Conner folded his arms across his chest. Robin looked down at his plate of food, knowing exactly what the answer was. Kaldur closed his eyes praying they would not overreact.

"S-she isn't really Green Arrow's niece." Wally stuttered. Connor's face shifted from confusion to anger. Meanwhile, Megan looked like she was on the verge of tears. "And she said there's more, but we have to ask Batman."

"Ask me what?"


	2. Losing a Spitfire

**Thanks to you all who reviewed the first chapter! Enjoy!**

A figure watched Star City from atop the Queen Industries main building. She tightly gripped her bow, ready for action. The city was quiet, unlike the city she used to call home. In Gotham, something was always happening, whether it be the Joker or just a pickpocket disturbing the peace.

She had only been on patrol with Ollie once, when she first started out. Artemis saw less action that night than a white crayon. Now, it wasn't any different. It had only been 2 days since she had left. She still was doing the hero thing, just not with Young Justice. And there wasn't any way she was going back.

Suddenly, Artemis got the feeling that she was being watched. The short blonde hairs on her neck were standing on end. Her father had trained her so that she was very familiar with it.

Knowing that she had to be even more cautious now that she'd gone AWOL, the archer quickly whipped out an arrow, readied her bow and whirled around in a movement that would only be seen as a blur. All she saw was the silhouette of a person.

"Come any closer and I'll shoot." The unknown being reached for something, Artemis took this as a threat, and released her arrow. As flesh met metal, a voice cried out in pain. "Augh! What the fuck?"

Roy stumbled forward clutching his wounded arm. Artemis gasped at the sight of the red headed archer. "Oh, crap. "

He felt the poison seeping into his veins and his legs give out from underneath him. Artemis just watched, thankful that the poison in the arrow would only render him unconscoius. She slowly backed away. The blonde archer jumped down to the nearest rooftop. Her feet flew, gracefully taking her across Star City while sticking to the shadows. Making if to the outskirts of the city, she looked at the night skyline. Just one more place that she couldn't go back to.

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><p>Two Days Earlier<p>

"Sportsmaster is her father?" Kaldur questioned.

"Yes. Artemis's mother used to be Huntress and her older sister is the assassin Cheshire." Green Arrow confirmed.

No one dared to speak, fearful that their tongues would convey the slight anger they all felt, instead of the extreme sympathy they truly had for their friend. Green Arrow and Batman watched the five teenagers with remorse. Oliver had suggested that they told them up front, but Bruce insisted that the less the team knew, the better. And for possibly the first time ever, the Batman had been wrong.

This was worse than either of them could have even imagined. Of course, working with the daughter of two of the Shadows most notorious assassins would have been tough, but going so long without knowing was devastating. Batman withheld the urge to sigh, silently rose from his seat and exited the room. Green Arrow sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Umm...I'm just going to,uh...yeah." Oliver mumbled and followed Batman.

The team sat in awe. Megan finally broke the silence.

"But Artemis wasn't bad. Right?"

"As far as we know." Robin stated.

"Of course she wasn't." Wally spoke up.

"If that is the case, then why did she leave?" Kaldur's question hung in the air because none of them had an answer.

* * *

><p>Wally stared at the ceiling. the same, boring gray it had been for the past few hours. he felt so...lost. he had no clue as to why this was happening to him, to the was only one other time when he'd felt this way: when his dad used to beat him.<p>

Every single time, it was as if some tiny part of his soul went away. then he became Kid Flash and things got better. the beatings didn't stop, but every time he put on that uniform, it gave him hope. All of his problems melted away or were forgotten with every victim he saved from a burning building or another abusive parent.

Meeting Robin, Roy, Kaldur, Superboy, and Megan and forming Young Justice had been the two best things that had happened to him in a while. And then Artemis came into his life.

From the moment she said "Wall-man," he hated her or so he had convinced himself. she couldn't replace Speedy. **(1) **He was a way better archer than she was anyway. With that beau-crazy long hair of hers and that se-stupid smirk she always had plastered on her face.

After the mission in Bialyia, he came to a certain realization. If they had met under different circumstances, they wouldn't have such a love-to-hate relationship. He had, repeatedly, referred to her as Beautiful, denied knowing Megan, and held her hand when Megan was about to venture into their minds. But then acted as if none of the above happened when they got their memories back.

Everything changed after the training exercise sent from Hell. He watched as both his Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry died at the hands of the alien invaders and he still knew that it wasn't real.

Then Artemis died.

Now convinced, like everyone else, that it was real, Wally swore to avenge Artemis. he was full of rage and determination. Finding out that the disintegration beams were Zeta beams gave the canary speedster hope. However, when Conner got hit, J'onn, Megan, and Robin all agreed that the disintegration rays were exactly that, he felt an eerily familiar emptiness. Artemis was his spitfire, he loved her, and now he would never have the chance to tell her. he couldn't live without her. So when ten seconds were displayed on the countdown on Robin's wrist timer, he just nodded. And fought until the fire consumed him.

Black canary couldn't get through to him. Wally insisted that he was fine, didn't want to "confront his extreme reaction to Artemis's death," and was okay with being in denial. **(2)**He couldn't tell her he was in love with the harpy.

It had just been a normal day at the cave: Conner staring intently at the static channel, Megan attempting to make something edible, Kaldur silently reading a book, Robin off Batman-knows-where doing Batman-knows-what, and of course, Wally and Artemis arguing. He couldn't even remember what they were arguing about, let alone how they ended up in the training room, fighting. Well, sparring...no, fighting is a lot more accurate. The speedster had narrowly avoided a kick as Artemis yelled an insult. Wally, determined to end their banter, managed to back the archer against a wall. Staring into her stormy eyes for a moment, he crushed his lips on hers. Wally almost immediately pulled away realizing what he had done. Artemis gaped at him with wide eyes. She lifted her hand, and Wally flinched, expecting a blow from her, but was surprised when none came. He was even more surprised when she pulled him back for another kiss. Then a flash and a yell,

"KALDUR, SUPERBOY, YOU BOTH OWE ME FIFTY BUCKS!"

Wally half-smiled at the memory. He had never seen Artemis chase or Robin run faster than he had that day. His thoughts drifting back to the blonde archer, the faint smirk disappeared. t had been two days since he had seen her. Two days since he had heard her voice. Forty-eight hours since he had felt her touch. Two thousand eight hundred eighty minutes since he had tasted her lips. one hundred seventy-two thousand eight hundred seconds since had lost his spitfire.  
>His door flew open. "Wally!" Robin yelled, obviously out of breath. The speedster closed his eyes. "Roy's here and he's hurt."<p>

"And?"

"He says it was Artemis."

**Okay, so there's chapter 2. I hope you liked it. (**

**(1)-I like calling him Speedy. And I wanted Wally to still think of him as he was.**

**(2)-Denial isn't just a river in Egypt. Lol**

**I will also be osting a short little one shot pretty soon called Dirty Little Secret. So look out for that but until then…**

**Batman: Review.**


	3. Looking

**I'm back. And I'm just going to get on with the story. There's a longer A/N after this chapter. Thanks for the reviews, btw.**

**Disclaimer: We would have heard Jesse McCartney speak Romani by now, if I did.**

* * *

><p>"Where is the girl?"<p>

"I don't know."

"Jade, I'm disappointed."

"Oh, well then what's your excuse...Daddy?"

"Look, little gir—"

"Both of you, stop. You can rip each others throats later. Right now, there are more pressing matters at hand. Whether or not either of you knows where she is does not matter. According to our insidme source, the Justice League does not even know her whereabouts and are, no doubt, searching for her as well. Therefore, it is your task to find her before they do."

* * *

><p>Any signs of where she was had ceased to exist miles ago. Artemis had been walking for hours and definitely needed food. Otherwise, she would pass out in the middle of a dirt road. Which, in her opinion, was NOT an option. Thankfully, there was a small town ahead. She had abandoned her costume and her bow, quiver, and crossbow lay in her duffel bag. The blonde archer now donned a yellow t-shirt with a "Watch your dubstep" logo, a black hoodie, skinny legs, black converse, and a black snapback (trying not to draw a lot of attention, that's why all the black). Artemis trudged another half mile, looking around for a decent place to eat. An old fashioned diner with a blinking "Open" sign caught her attention.<p>

She sat down at an empty booth, setting her duffel bag on the polished linoleum beside her seat. Her stormy gray eyes roamed the restaurant until they rested on a small menu laying on the table in front of her. A few minutes later, a middle aged redheaded woman came over to her table.

"Can I get you somethin' hon?" Gladys, as her nametag read, smiled down at the archer.

"Umm, can I have a cheeseburger, some fries, and a strawberry milkshake?"

"Comin' right up." The waitress disappeared in the back of the restaurant. Artemis waited, drumming her fingers on the table. Minutes passed and when it neared an hour, Artemis knew something was wrong.

Artemis cautiously left her table and walked toward the kitchen area, crossbow in hand. She peered through a circular window in the door before slowly opening it. The waitress, Gladys, and the cook were laying on the floor, surrounded by an enormous pool of blood.

She stepped around the mass of crimson liquid and the bodies. Artemis squatted down, a look of pity crossed her face. Something glinted out of the corner of her eye. The archer stood and wrenched a shuriken that had embedded itself into the wall. One name came to mind.

Jade.

* * *

><p>Paula Crock wheeled herself into her daughter's bedroom. Artemis hadn't come home in three days. She hadn't called or left a message saying she was staying at the Cave or with Oliver, stuck on a mission, or anything. Most mothers would be worried, afraid that their daughter had been taken by some sick stranger. Afraid of the unknown.<p>

But Paula knew.

She knew EXACTLY who would take her and EXACTLY what they were capable of and willing to do. She pushed away the thoughts before they could worry her any more than what she already was and rolled over to the nightstand between the two empty beds that occupied the room.

Slowly, Paula opened the bottom drawer. A single book, slightly coated in dust, lay within. She picked it up, brushing off the cover and placing it in her lap. Her hands turned to a random page and her eyes skimmed the worn paper. The Cheshire Cat was long gone. And now so was Alice.

The ex-criminal dared not move when she felt another's presence. Although, she involuntarily stiffened when a hauntingly familiar, husky voice met her ears. "Where is she?"

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><p><strong>Okay, today is my birthday and I wanted to give you guys a gift. And, hopefully, you'll give me the gift of GLORIOUS REVIEWS!<strong>

**In this chapter, I really wanted to include Paula and add in the Shadows, cause we ALL love them, don't we? The next one, we'll get back to the League and co.**

**But, anywho, I'm excited to be turning one year older! Yay! And, this morning, we all got to witness the season finale of Young Justice! And they aren't going on another hiatus before showing new episodes! And I think I saw Wondergirl in the new episode preview!**

**So...**

**Robin: Show some love and review.**

**Oh and birthday cake for the ppl who can tell me who the person was at the beginning, other than the obvious other two. (Hints: 1. You've seen him with them before already. 2. He was wonderfully portrayed in Batman Begins. 3. I stink at giving hints.)**

**(BTW: this is the author's friend uploading this for her XD *ihavenoideawhati'mdoingplz* so yeah XD forgive me if I don't do in right! 3 aaaaannnndddd HAPPY BIRTHDAY EZZY! ILOVEUU!)**


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